Cardinal Letter
by Wilona Riva
Summary: Maddie looked up bleary-eyed from her coffee as her daughter place two envelopes: one red as a cardinal's feather, one deep, dark indigo as the midnight sky. "Where did you get these, Jazz?"
1. Cardinal Letter

Cardinal Letter

By: Wilona Riva

* * *

**Cardinal Letter**

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_Jazz's new life following the events in __**Misty Secret**__._

* * *

**_We are the chosen of the Family who embrace the Day World._**

**_Separated from our kin, we follow the Mother, beloved of the Father._**

**_Our world is the same as yours._**

**_A touch of red, and you are ours._**

* * *

A few days ago, the letter within the indigo envelope had been an invitation to the join the Family, but now it said something quite different:

_Dear Jasmine,_

_Your brother wishes you well in your new world. By now, you may have noticed a shift in your parents' personalities. Trust me, they know where they are and they cannot escape. My beloved will handle their punishment; do not fear. I cannot return you to the world I sent you from. I am sorry._

_Vlad _

Maddie looked up bleary-eyed from her coffee as her daughter placed two envelopes: one red as a cardinal's feather and the other deep, dark indigo as the midnight sky. "Where did you get these, Jazz?"

"On my desk, when I awoke this morning," Jazz answered. "What is to become of us, Mom?"

"I don't know, Jazz," she said, stirring her coffee. "Your father vanished in the night. It's just us now. With Danny part of the Family, we have to forge a new path for ourselves."

"Will you continue hunting the Family?" Jazz asked.

"I don't know."

"I keep hearing the shower running, so I think part of our house is still in the other world we came from," Jazz told her.

"That is plausible," Maddie told her. She handed the two letters back to Jazz, who gasped as a strange shock ran through her upon touching them.

"What is it, Jazz?" Maddie asked.

"I don't know," she replied, "and I'm not sure I want to know. What happens if I begin to change like Danny did?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it, Jazz," Maddie replied. "Emerald Vale Academy has received your transcripts and called to notify me of your enrollment as of this morning. Everything will be provided for you when you arrive."

"That was generous of Uncle Vlad," Jazz muttered. "And really weird."

Maddie rose from the table and embraced her daughter with a fierce hug. "I may not be here when you return from school, if what happened to your father is any inkling."

"After what you tried to do to Danny, I'm not surprised," Jazz replied, but hugged her mother back. "You and Dad are the best parents in the world. I hope we have some more time yet before they take you too, Mom."

"It's inevitable, I suppose," Maddie responded. "It's also 7:30 am. The Academy opens its doors at 9:00 am. You'd better get going."

"What about a map? I have no idea where to go?" Jazz asked.

"You'll find it, Jazz, don't worry," Maddie told her, fading before her daughter's eyes even as she spoke. "I love you, Jasmine."

"Mom!"


	2. The Houses of the Nine

Cardinal Letter

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: Forgot to add this in last chapter, but I do not own any canon DP characters, just my own OC's.

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**The Houses of the Nine**

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_**We know the worlds number nine**_

_**Ringing around the Ash Tree:**_

_**Three for Gods, Giants and the Dead,**_

_**One for the Fae and another for the Ones who live under the earth.**_

_**One each for the elements of Ice and Fire**_

_**The last for mortals and the Family-**_

_**All fed by the Wellspring of the Fates.**_

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Jazz read the plaque outside the Headmistress' office once more. "Sounds like something from the _Poetic Edda_," she said aloud, shaking her head at the poetic gibberish on the wall.

"It does, doesn't it, Jasmine?" a lyrical voice answered from the doorway, which opened to reveal a short African-American woman in a Victorian day dress and black heeled button-up boots. On her nose were perches thin, red, rectangular frames which shielded enormous azure eyes, hinting at her mixed heritage, if the light mocha skin and dark, curly hair weren't a dead giveaway.

"Uh," Jazz quickly looked down to hide her embarrassment over the racist thoughts running through her head.

"And do not feel ashamed," the woman gently told her. "The Mother has told me of your background, Jasmine, so it will not be easy to overcome your fear of the Family. We are the Day Branch, so to speak. Come, I'll explain to you how the Academy works. How about we take a walk?" She motioned for the girl to follow.

Emerald Vale Academy was laid out in three concentric rings with a large labyrinthine garden at its heart. The innermost group of buildings, Miss Shalimar explained, housed the nine dormitories, six for females, two for males, and one of both sexes.

"The second ring houses the Soulless, who serve the students and await their redemption. It is the Mother 's choice who joins or exits their ranks," Miss Shalimar stated, adjusting her glasses as she gaze the ginger-haired her a very sharp, piercing look. "Yes, the Others are now amongst them, as you would also be if one hadn't spoken up for you."

Jazz shuddered at the awful thought of what horrors her parents were being subjected to. "What?"

"Best if you don't ask," Miss Shalimar replied, her wide skirt swishing on ahead. The woman was as capricious and prickly as a cat, Jazz decided.

"Yes, I was once of Bast House," Miss Shalimar pridefully told her. "But is to Nairn House that you shall go. Nairn is composed of the Undecided or those close to completing their First Year here at Emerald Vale. Here at Emerald Vale, you shall be greatly blessed by the Mother."

"What is in the outer ring?" Jazz asked, seriously weirded out by the woman.

"That is the Academy itself, Jasmine," the Headmistress replied. "You will begin classes tomorrow. Ah, here we are-Nairn House."

She pulled out a small, slender bronze key and inserted it into the old-fashioned ornate keyhole. Swinging the door and pulling out the key in one stroke, she motioned for Jazz to enter. "Welcome to Nairn House."

Nairn House was beautiful. It was a four-story octagonal shaped home painted in heritage colors; a dark wooden veranda wrapped itself completely around the first floor of the structure. Jazz could just make out a hint of a stone walkway leading to one of the school's many travelled stone and brick paths.

She stepped cautiously inside the building, Miss Shalimar right behind her. The first floor of the structure housed a kitchen, a common area doubling as a mini-library/recreation room, and a music room. There were other rooms off to her other left, but Miss Shalimar urged her on into the upper reaches of the house.

"The fourth floor rooms all open on a common study area," she was told dimissively by the woman. "Each room is designed for two occupants; there are a total of ten on each floor. You are responsible for knowing your schedule and theirs. We have no quartets in this half of the Family."

A tiny girl with Euro -Asian features poked her head out of one of the doors just then. She squeaked when she saw Jazz. "I told you Mother would send us a _girl!_" she shouted back into the room. "We've got the boys on the run now."

She was beautiful. Her eyes were almond-shaped with a slight Oriental slant to them. Black as night, when long, straight raven-colored hair, the girl introduced herself as Chyrill Rafferty Min. "I'm a Merlin," she proudly announced, showing off the silver falcon pin she wore on her denim jacket's lapel. She smoothed out her dark-red pleated skirt and adjusted the black straps peaking under her black spaghetti tank top. She spun around to show off the yellow roses embroidered on the back and sleeves; her mary janes showing off the white, lacy, heart-shaped leggings nicely.

"Do you like?" Chyrill asked, noting Jazz's gaze. "I did them myself."

"You're very talented," Jazz observed. "If you don't mind my asking, but how old are you?"

"Not at all," the girl replied, latching on to Jazz's right and arm and pulling her into the room, where several kids of various ages met her with silent stony gazes.

Miss Shalimar smiled and slipped away as the Merlin took charge of the newest student. Chyrill would be a great credit to Falcon House come the next term.

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**Author's Note:**

It took a very long time and a lot of detailed notes to make this chapter possible. Five of the Nine Houses I've managed to name thus far: Nairn, Bast, Iris, Falcon, and Kallinara. If Jazz is ever given a more detailed history of the houses, I'll go into those at a later date. Not all the students are of the Day Branch of the Family. There are plenty of normal humans attending Emerald Vale Academy. Kind of like Monster High a bit; my oldest niece is addicted to it, so might be where the similarities come from.

No school uniforms have been noted as of yet, but I may change my mind later on.

Character Bio:

Name: Chyrill Rafferty Min

Age: 12

Gender: Female

House: Nairn/Falcon

Hair Color/Style: Black, long and straight

Eye Color: Black

Clothes: red, short pleated skirt, black spaghetti tank top, dark denim jacket with yellows roses embroidered on back and sleeves, black mary janes with white lacy leggings with decorative hearts

Hobbies: Embroidery and being the annoying over-cheerful person who is the first to greet you every morning

Special Note: Can change into a merlin falcon with a falcon skin cloak -think old legends of swan maidens and selkies and you'll have the general idea of what I'm thinking about

Next chapter, you'll meet the rest of the gang, of which I've only created 3 others besides Chyrill, thus far. I can't tell you when the next update will be, but chapters may be long or short, depending on what Jazz is going through.


End file.
